Page 111 of Crown of Olympus
Aphrodite refused. As did Hestia.
Five versus one. Not great odds.
But they were all forgetting one thing.
I was death incarnate.
I was absolute. Inescapable.
And fate had promised me a crown.
CHAPTER 33
Nyssa
Leander,Thallo, Tychon, Athena, and Diana stood in a loose circle surrounding me, weapons drawn, their blades reflecting the flashes of lightning tearing through the sky.
Shadows dripped from my open palm, pooling at my feet — slithering like hungry, impatient serpents.
“Begin!” Ares roared from the sidelines.
Tychon struck first. As a son of Hermes — a god of travel and trickery — he moved stealthily. Little more than a blur. He came at me from behind, his knife slashing at my ribs.
I sidestepped quickly, reaching across my torso with my free hand to catch his wrist mid-strike.
He was fast — Furies, he was fast. But I would be smarter.
Still gripping his wrist, I jerked him forward until his body collided with mine, then slammed my head back. I felt the precise moment his nose shattered against my skull, cartilage crunching with sickening force.
I pivoted as he flipped the knife into his other hand,. He grinned savagely, his teeth stained gold with the blood pouring freelydown his face.
Nobody else had made a move — watching for weakness, for openings, or for my energy to wane.
Then Thallo lunged.
The son of Demeter — my mother’s brother — was built like an oxen, hulking and huge, but reserved. Quiet. His spear was a flash of gold as he feinted right, then left, forcing me back towards Tychon.
Thallo jabbed as Tychon slashed. The gods worked in tandem, leaving me only enough time to deflect a single blow.
My sword clattered against Thallo’s spear, knocking him off balance as my inky tendrils swept his legs from beneath him.
But Tychon’s dagger struck low, slicing into my calf. The laceration stung like a motherfucker, but I couldn’t afford to slow. If I did, I was dead.
He loosed a manic laugh as thunder crashed in the distance, lightning dancing in my periphery.
Thallo lunged again. This time, I let him. My shadows latched around Tychon’s legs behind me while I stepped into Thallo’s attack at my front.
Instead of deflecting, I grabbed the spear as Thallo drove it forward, wrenched it back in one smooth motion, and redirected it?—
—right into Tychon’s stomach.
He choked on impact, eyes going wide as he coughed blood into the air and painted my face with macabre freckles.
Thallo’s eyes bulged in horror as Tychon fell to the ground with laboured breaths. His spear had finally met flesh, but unfortunately for Tychon, it wasn’t his intended target.
I swung Nightbreaker in a measured arc, halting jarringly against Thallo’s thick neck. A small nick appeared in his skin — both warning and promise.
He raised his hands, panting.
